Alphabetic Surname Index

Births	Marriages	Deaths
Adames - Ayres Babbitt - Buss Caldwell - Cutting Darlin - Dyer Eames - Eustus Fales - Frost Gage - Guilford Hagar - Huntington Jackson - Jones Keith - Knight Lackey - Lyon McClure - Myrick Newcomb - Nye Olds - Orms Packard - Putnam Raley - Ryon Sabine - Sylvester Taft - Twomay Underwood - Usher Vaughn - Vinton Walkah - Wright Unidentified	Abbot - Ayres Babbit - Byron Calley - Cutting Daggett - Dyer Eager - Everett Fales - Furbush Gage - Gulliver Hagar - Hyndman Jackson - Joslin Kearney - Kruul Lackey - Lyon McClaren - Muzzy Needham - Nye Oakes - Owen Packard - Putnam Randall - Ryan Saddler - Sylvester Taft - Tyler Underwood - Upham Vaile - Vinton Wade - Wymon Young	A–––– - Ayres B–––– - Bush Caldwell - Cutting Dana - Dyer Eams - Eldridge Fales - Fuller G–––– - Guilford Hagar - Huntington Jenks - Jones Kent - Knight Lackey - Lyon McWaters - Myrick Newcomb - Nyms Oldham - Ormes Packard - Putnam Randall - Ryan Saddler - Swan Taft - Turtellott Underwood - Upham Vinton Walker - Wright

Chronologic Surname Index

Births	Marriages	Deaths
Adames - Ayres Babbitt - Buss Caldwell - Cutting Darlin - Dyer Eames - Eustus Fales - Frost Gage - Guilford Hagar - Huntington Jackson - Jones Keith - Knight Lackey - Lyon McClure - Myrick Newcomb - Nye Olds - Orms Packard - Putnam Raley - Ryon Sabine - Sylvester Taft - Twomay Underwood - Usher Vaughn - Vinton Walkah - Wright Unidentified	Abbot - Ayres Babbit - Byron Calley - Cutting Daggett - Dyer Eager - Everett Fales - Furbush Gage - Gulliver Hagar - Hyndman Jackson - Joslin Kearney - Kruul Lackey - Lyon McClaren - Muzzy Needham - Nye Oakes - Owen Packard - Putnam Randall - Ryan Saddler - Sylvester Taft - Tyler Underwood - Upham Vaile - Vinton Wade - Wymon Young	A–––– - Ayres B–––– - Bush Caldwell - Cutting Dana - Dyer Eams - Eldridge Fales - Fuller G–––– - Guilford Hagar - Huntington Jenks - Jones Kent - Knight Lackey - Lyon McWaters - Myrick Newcomb - Nyms Oldham - Ormes Packard - Putnam Randall - Ryan Saddler - Swan Taft - Turtellott Underwood - Upham Vinton Walker - Wright

Spencer was established as a District April 12, 1753, from a part of Leicester, and was incorporated as a town August 23, 1775.

Population at different periods:

1765	664		1810	1,453		1840	1,604
1776	1,042		1820	1,548		1850	2,244
1790	1,322		1830	1,618		1905	7,121

The list of Spencer Births, Marriages and Deaths comprised in this volume includes all that were found in the Town Books covering the period from the earliest date there recorded to the end of the year 1849. Some additions have been made from other sources, and these are indicated in each instance by proper reference.

All of the records are condensed in print as much as is consistent with intelligibility, accuracy, and completeness of information. Differences in duplicates, and explanatory or other matter which seemed necessary or desirable, appear in brackets.

Marriages and intentions of marriage are printed under the names of both parties, but the full information concerning each person is given only under his or her name. An asterisk after a marriage indicates that the intention is not found recorded, and in many cases this is accounted for by the fact that neither party belonged in Spencer, and consequently publishments was made elsewhere.

The double date is used in January, February and March prior to 1752 only when it so occurs in the original, and instances of the modern form are common after 1725.

When places other than Spencer and Massachusetts are named in the original records they are given in the printed copy.

A general guide to how to use these pages.

If you are new to this site, or haven't used the site a lot, please be sure to read the rest of this page. Even if you have used this site a lot, a refresher may be helpful due to the changes that have been introduced.

You can research the records alphabetically or chronologically within surname. Images of the pages from which the transcriptions were done, and the title pages, are available for most towns. A list of abbreviations used is available.

Alphabetic - This is the most common way that the published vital records were presented. All of the same given names were arranged chronologically with names that had middle initials or middle names following the others. Nicknames would appear alphabeticall according to the spelling, i.e. Nabby, the nickname for Abigail, would be with the names beginning with the letter "N."

In this version, the names are sorted based on the most common spelling. Abbie, Abby, Abigail, Knabby, Nabby, etc., will all appear together and will be chronological. Middle initials and middle names have no influence on the order.

Note: There are going to be errors in the indexing of the names. A woman named Abiel may have been recorded as Abby. The indexing will have her with the Abigails. Please notify me with the Contact page about errors and they will be fixed within a couple days.

Chronologic - The chronologic sort will be most helpful with surnames having lots of entries, especially births. Records that had a missing date, or part, have had the missing portions replaced with zeros and will appear ahead of the others.

Page images - The icon at the left of each record is a link to the image of the page from which the transcription was done. The transcriptions are a tool. The image is the source. It is your responsibility to copy the image for your documentation. Also, the title page should be copied. There is a link to the title page in the navigation bar on transcription pages and image display pages.

Abbreviations - Each town had its own abbreviations used in the published records. Most of these are the same. The abbreviations for the headstones (GR), private records (PR), churches (CR), etc. are all different. There is a link to a list of all abbreviations used for the town in the navigation bar of the transcription pages.

Errors - There are two types of errors.

• Errors in the published records - It is known that errors are in the published records. Not many, to be sure, but they are there. Where I have found them, or have been informed and provided sufficient documentation, the records have been annotated. This appears in red at the end of the line.]
• Transcription errors - Even with the best of proofing, errors occur. If you find one, use the Contact link at the top of the page and tell me about the error. I need to have the town name, type of record, page number, what the error is and what it should be. It facilitates matters if you copy and paste the record in error into the e-mail.

Miscellaneous - As the opportunity has provided, I have tried to research names that had only initials or an initial and a surname to find the full names. Where I've been successful I've added the name in red, i.e. J.R. appears as J[ohn] R. or J[ohn] R[ussel].

The alphabetic and chronologic sort orders and many planned improvements require that towns be transcribed. If you can spare two, or more, hours per week to help with the transcribing, write me.

With the exception of the few people helping with transcribing and indexing, I am the only person working on this project. I do all of the technical work. I correct errors. I put transcriptions into final format. I design the pages. This takes a tremendous amount of time and money. If you find this site useful, please donate what you think it is worth to you by going to the donations page.